Terminal, charging system, and data processing method

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a terminal device capable of communicating with an accounting center, an accounting system, and a data processing method. A point memory  45  of a recording/reproducing device  10  stores accounting point information. An HDD  15  stores information distributed from an external source. A CPU  11  updates the accounting point information stored in the point memory  45  and updates attributes of the distributed information when the distributed information is stored onto the HDD  15 . Thus, such inconvenience that communication with a distribution/accounting center  1  is carried out every time information is distributed to the recording/reproducing device  10  is avoided.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a terminal device, an accounting system and adata processing method, and in particular to an accounting systemincluding an accounting center in an information distribution system anda terminal device that can communicate with the accounting center.

BACKGROUND ART

There are various types of audio-visual equipment owned by users and ithas been common that users enjoy music and video software for personaluse. For example, some users own an audio system using recording mediasuch as compact discs (CD) or mini discs (MD, trademark) and purchasedesired CDs or MDs for playback.

Apart from the system for providing music or the like as a so-calledpackage medium to the user, a system for distributing data such as musicto a terminal device of the user is considered.

It is also considered to distribute not music data itself but additionaldata for the music owned by the user on CD or the like, for example,text data of title, lyrics, message and profile of artist, and relatedgraphic data.

In consideration of a system where information distribution of music andadditional information is chargeable, an accounting system capable ofcollecting an appropriate fee from the user is required.

As the accounting system, there is first considered a system forcarrying out accounting through communication between the terminaldevice and the accounting center every time chargeable information istaken into the terminal device owned by the user. In such a system, forexample, in the state where the terminal device and the accountingcenter are connected with each other via a telephone line or the like,the accounting center carries out accounting with respect to the user inaccordance with the information taken into the user terminal device andlater draws the fee from the bank account of the user.

However, as the communication between the accounting center and theterminal device is carried out every time information is taken into theuser terminal device as described above, the user must wait for the useof information until the accounting processing is completed.Particularly, depending on the degree of congestion and type of line,the user may have to wait for a very long time.

It is also considered to employ a prepaid card as the accounting system.However, there are many disadvantages of this type of system such as thehigh cost of circulation of the prepaid cards, the troublesome procedurefor the user to purchase the card, and the necessity of providing adedicated card reader in the terminal device of the user.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Thus, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the foregoingproblems.

According to the present invention, there is provided a terminal deviceincluding: a first memory for storing accounting point information; asecond memory for storing information distributed from an externalsource; and a control section for updating the accounting pointinformation stored in the first memory and updating attributes of thedistributed information when the distributed information is stored inthe second memory.

According to the present invention, there is also provided an accountingsystem including: a terminal device including a first memory for storingaccounting point information, a second memory for storing informationdistributed from an external source, and a control section for updatingthe accounting point information stored in the first memory and updatingattributes of the distributed information when the distributedinformation is stored in the second memory; and an accounting centerincluding an accounting section for carrying out accounting processingin accordance with the accounting point information transmitted from theterminal device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the overview of an informationdistribution system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a recording/reproducing device anda portable device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the specific structure of therecording/reproducing device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the specific structure of the portabledevice to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 5 shows a specific example of a file storage mode in a hard diskdrive (HDD) 15 constituting the recording/reproducing device.

FIG. 6 shows specific contents of a management file.

FIG. 7 shows specific contents of a point memory constituting therecording/reproducing device.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating specific operation of the centralprocessing unit (CPU) of the recording/reproducing device in the firstaccounting processing.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating specific operation of the CPU whenthe number of points is insufficient in the first accounting processing.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating specific operation of the CPU whenthe portable device is connected in the first accounting processing.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating specific operation of thedistribution/accounting center in the first accounting processing.

FIG. 12 shows a specific screen of a display section constituting therecording/reproducing device.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating specific operation of the CPU in thesecond accounting processing.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating specific operation of the CPU whenthe portable device is connected in the second accounting processing.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating specific operation of thedistribution/accounting center in the second accounting processing.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The terminal device, the accounting system, and the data processingmethod according to the present invention are described in detail withreference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the overview of an informationdistribution system to which the present invention is applied. Thisinformation distribution system is constituted by arecording/reproducing device 10 used by a general user at home 2 or thelike, and an information distribution/accounting center such as adistribution/accounting center 1 as an information service institutionwhich provides information to be used in the recording/reproducingdevice 10.

The distribution/accounting center 1 and the recording/reproducingdevice 10 communicate various information with each other via acommunication channel 3. The communication channel 3 is made of a publicline network such as an ISDN line, or a dedicated line networkconstructed exclusively for that system. The line mode is notparticularly limited. Also, the distribution/accounting center 1 and therecording/reproducing device 10 may communicate information with eachother via a satellite communication channel made up of a communicationsatellite 4 and a parabolic antenna 5 installed at each home 2.

The recording/reproducing device 10 used by the general user has alarge-capacity data file storage section provided therein, and has thefunction to drive a so-called package medium such as an optical disc, amagneto-optical disc or a semiconductor memory, the function to inputdata from other equipment, and the function to input data through thecommunication channel. In addition, the recording/reproducing device 10stores various data including audio data and video data reproduced frommedia purchased by the user such as an optical disc, an optical discdevice and a semiconductor memory, or various data inputted from otherequipment or the communication channel, to the data file storage sectionas respective files.

For example, music files such that each tune is stored as one file inthe recording/reproducing device 10 are arbitrarily reproduced by theuser. Therefore, if the user having a number of optical discs stores inadvance each of the tunes of all the optical discs as each file into therecording/reproducing device 10, the user can reproduce a desired tunewithout selecting and loading an optical disc to therecording/reproducing device 10.

The distribution/accounting center 1 provides various kinds ofchargeable or free information to the recording/reproducing device 10.For example, as the information related to the music files or the likestored in the recording/reproducing device 10, text data such as thetitle of the tune, the name of artist and lyrics, image data such as atune image and an image of the artist, the uniform resource locator(URL) or address of an Internet home page of the artist,copyright-related information, and the names of parties concerned(lyrics writer, composer, producer, etc.) Are provided. Therecording/reproducing device 10 stores such information provided fromthe distribution/accounting center 1 correspondingly to the tunes anduses the information for various operations such as display onto adisplay section.

The distribution/accounting center 1 transmits the audio data itself,that is, tunes, to the recording/reproducing device 10. Therecording/reproducing device 10 stores the received audio data as files.That is, a sales system for tunes which is different from that forpackage media like optical discs is constructed.

Moreover, the distribution/accounting center 1 carries out processingfor charging the fee to the user with respect to the chargeableinformation provided to the user. For example, thedistribution/accounting center 1 carries out processing for drawing theamount equivalent to the fee of the information provided to the user,from the bank account of the user.

The chargeable information may include related information for tunes asdescribed above and data of the tune itself. What information is theactually chargeable information provided by the distribution/accountingcenter 1 is determined by the institution, company or individual personwho provides information sales service. It is not a technical elementconstituting this invention and therefore will not be described furtherin detail. Meanwhile, a mode for providing a certain chargeableoperation function to the recording/reproduction device 10 as well asproviding information may also be considered. In such a mode, forexample, the distribution/accounting center 1 charges the copyrightroyalty to the user when the user dubs music data of an optical disc toa magneto-optical disc or a semiconductor memory by using therecording/reproducing device 10.

The essential technique of this specific example consists in theaccounting processing. The accounting target is the offer of certainchargeable information. However, if permission of dubbing is chargeable,the dubbing permission information is the offer of chargeableinformation of this invention.

As a device used by the user, a portable recording/reproducing devicewhich can be connected to the recording/reproducing device 10, that is,a portable device 50, may be employed. The portable device 50 has a datafile storage section provided therein for storing files of audio dataand the like. When the portable device 50 is connected to therecording/reproducing device 10, the files stored in therecording/reproducing device 10, for example, tunes are duplicated orshifted to the data file storage section in the portable device 50. Itis also possible to carry out control so that the files stored in thedata file storage section in the portable device 50 are duplicated orshifted to the data file storage section in the recording/reproducingsection 10.

By shifting or duplicating a desired file of the files stored in therecording/reproducing device 10 to the portable device 50, the user canuse the file on the portable device 50. For example, the user can shiftto the portable device 50 the files of tunes to which he/she wants tolisten on that day and listen to the tunes by using the portable device50 outdoors.

In the information distribution system, there may be a number of serverswhich distribute information, for example, an information distributioncenter 7. This information distribution center 7 is similar to thedistribution/accounting center 1 in that various kinds of chargeable orfree information to the user, but it does not carry out accountingprocessing with respect to the user. Specifically, the accountingprocessing with respect to the user is entirely managed by thedistribution/accounting center 1, and the distribution center 7 chargesto the distribution/accounting center 1 the fee for the offer ofinformation to the user.

As information providing means to the user, a down-load device 6arranged at a train station or at a shop may be considered. In thedown-load device 6, a loading section MT is formed in which the portabledevice 50 can be loaded. The loading section MT is similar to a loadingsection MT of the recording/reproducing device 10, which will bedescribed later. The user can load his/her portable device 50 to theloading section MT of the down-load device 6 and obtain or purchasedesired information in the form of a so-called vending machine. Thedown-load device 6 is managed by the distribution/accounting center 1 orthe distribution center 7. The down-load device 6 sequentially receivesnecessary information from the distribution/accounting center 1 or thedistribution center 7 and transfers the received information to theportable device 50. The down-load device 6 thus sells various kinds ofinformation to the user.

FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the recording/reproducing device 10 andthe portable device 50. In this description, only an example is employedand therefore various other types can be employed for the appearance ofeach equipment, the user interface structure, that is, the structure foroperation and display, and the mode of connection between therecording/reproducing device 10 and the portable device 50.

As shown in FIG. 2, the recording/reproducing device 10 is a so-calledradio cassette-type equipment suitable for the use at the user's home.The recording/reproducing device 10 may also be of a component type.

In the recording/reproducing device 10, operation keys and operationknobs for the user to carry out various operations, and variousrotary/press keys which are rotated to change the menu and pressed todecide the menu are provided as operators Ka on the front panel of theequipment. Also, in the recording/reproducing device 10, a speaker 35for outputting playback sound and a display section 24 for displayingvarious information are provided as output means to the user. Thedisplay section 24 is made up of, for example, a liquid crystal panel.

For the user to reproduce data from an optical disc of the user by usingthe recording/reproducing device 10 or to dub data from the optical discto an internal hard disk, which will be later described, an optical discinsertion section 17 a for inserting the optical disc into an internalCD-ROM (compact disc read-only memory) driver 17 is provided in therecording/reproducing device 10.

Similarly, for the user to record/reproduce data to/from amagneto-optical disc of the user by using the recording/reproducingdevice 10 or to dub data from the magneto-optical disc to the internalhard disk, a magneto-optical disc insertion section 18 a for insertingthe magneto-optical disc into an internal MD (mini disc) drive 18 isprovided in the recording/reproducing device 10.

In addition, in the recording/reproducing device 10, various terminalsta for connection with other equipments are prepared. The terminals taare terminals for connection of a microphone and headphones, and arealso a line connection terminal, an optical digital connection terminaland an interface connector for connection with other audio-visualequipments and personal computers.

As the user-operated input means in the recording/reproducing device 10,a keyboard 90 and a remote commander 91 are used as well as theabove-described operators Ka.

When the keyboard 90 is connected to a keyboard connector of theterminals ta, the operation information from the keyboard 90 is inputtedto the recording/reproducing device 10 via the terminal ta. If aninfrared transmission section is provided on the keyboard 90, theoperation information from the keyboard 90 is outputted in an infraredradio system and the operation information is inputted to therecording/reproducing device 10 from a light receiving section 21.

The remote commander 91 outputs the operation information, for example,in an infrared system. The operation information by means of theinfrared signal is inputted to the recording/reproducing device 10 fromthe light receiving section 21. The output of the operation informationin the case where the keyboard 90 employs the radio system and theoutput of the operation information from the remote commander 91 may useradio waves instead of infrared rays.

In the recording/reproducing device 10, a PCMCIA (Personal ComputerMemory Card International Association) slot 39 is also provided so thatdata transmission with other equipments via the PCMCIA card is possible.

The portable device 50 is a small-size light-weight equipment so as tobe suitable for the portable use by the user. In the portable device 50,various operation keys for the user to carry out various operations areprovided as operators Kb. Although not shown, a rotary/press jog dialmay be provided.

In the portable device 50, a speaker 68 for outputting playback soundand a display section 57 for displaying various information are providedas output means to the user. The display section 57 is made up of, forexample, a liquid crystal panel. In the portable device 50, a microphone65 is provided as input means for the user.

In the portable device 50, various terminals tb for connection withother equipments are also provided. The terminals tb are terminals forconnection of a microphone and headphones, and are also a lineconnection terminal, an optical digital connection terminal and aninterface connector for connection with other audio-visual equipmentsand personal computers. For example, when the user carries the portabledevice 50 and listens to music or the like, the user can reproduce thesound from the speaker 68 or can listen to the music or the like usingheadphones 92 by connecting the headphones 92 to a headphone terminal ofthe terminals tb.

By connecting the recording/reproducing device 10 with the portabledevice 50, communication of various data between therecording/reproducing device 10 and the portable device 50, for example,communication of data of a real file like audio data and control datarequired for communication processing can be carried out.

In this example, a loading section MT having a connector 27 is providedin the recording/reproducing device 10 so that the recording/reproducingdevice 10 and the portable device 50 are connected with each other byloading the portable device 50 into the loading section MT. When theportable device 50 is loaded in the loading section MT, a connector 60provided on the lower part of the portable device 50 is connected withthe connector 27 in the loading section MT, and data communicationbetween the two equipments is carried out via the connectors 60, 27. Forthe connection of the recording/reproducing device 10 and the portabledevice 50, a line connection system using a communication cable or awireless connection system using infrared rays or the like may beemployed.

The specific internal structure of the recording/reproducing device 10will now be described with reference to FIG. 3.

In the recording/reproducing device 10, push-type and rotary/press-typeoperators Ka are provided as a panel operating section 20 as describedabove. Although not described with reference to FIG. 2, operation keydisplay may be presented on the display section 24 and a touch detectionmechanism may be provided on the display section 24 so as to form atouch panel operator. In such case, the touch panel operator is includedin the panel operating section 20 of FIG. 3. As the panel operatingsection 20 is operated by the user, operation signals for causing therecording/reproducing device 10 to execute various operations aregenerated and the recording/reproducing device 10 operates in responseto the operation signals.

For example, the keyboard 90 and the remote commander 91 can be used asdescribed above in order to facilitate input of the title of a tune orthe name of an artist corresponding to the audio information to berecorded. The input by using the keyboard 90 is made possible byconnecting the keyboard 90 to a USB (universal serial bus) terminal ta6.In other words, an input signal from the keyboard 90, that is, anoperation signal, is supplied to a USB driver 23 via the USB terminalta6 and taken into the recording/reproducing device 10. The terminalstal to ta7 in FIG. 3 correspond to respective ones of the terminals tashown in FIG. 2.

The operation signal by means of infrared rays from the remote commander91 and the operation signal in the case where the keyboard 90 carriesout infrared output are photoelectrically converted by the lightreceiving section 21, then supplied to an infrared interface driver 22,and taken into the recording/reproducing device 10. The data may also beoutputted to the outside through the infrared interface driver 22 or theUSB driver 23.

In the recording/reproducing device 10, a RAM 13, a ROM 12, and a flashmemory 14 are provided, which are components of an ordinary personalcomputer. The operation of the whole recording/reproducing device 10 iscontrolled by the CPU 11. The transmission/reception of file data andcontrol data between respective blocks is carried out via a bus B1.

In. the ROM 12, a program is stored for controlling the operation of therecording/reproducing device 10 in response to an input signal inputtedby operating the panel operating section 20 or an input signal from thekeyboard 90 or the remote commander 91. In the RAM 13 and the flashmemory 14, a data area and a task area required for executing theprogram are temporarily secured. A program loader may be stored in theROM 12 so that the program itself can be loaded to the flash memory 14by the program loader.

A storage section for storing the number of points, which is theaccounting point information, is provided as a point memory 45. Thepoint memory 45 is constituted by a non-volatile memory or a RAM havinga backup power. In the point memory 45, at least the number of pointsused for accounting is stored. Update of the number of points, that is,subtraction of points, and initialization, that is, restoration to theinitial point, are carried out by the CPU 11 as will be later describedin detail.

On the CD-ROM drive 17, an optical disc is loaded from theabove-described optical disc insertion section 17a. The informationrecorded on the optical disc is read out by an optical pickup of theCD-ROM drive 17 at a normal speed or a high speed such as 16-tuple or32-tuple speed. On the MD drive 18, an optical disc or magneto-opticaldisc is loaded from the above-described magneto-optical disc insertionsection 18a. By an optical pickup of the MD drive 18, the informationrecorded on the optical disc or magneto-optical disc is read out, orinformation is recorded onto the optical disc or magneto-optical disc.Although the CD-ROM drive 17 and the MD drive 18 are provided in thisexample, it is also possible to provide only one of these drives or toprovide a drive corresponding to another medium for storing informationsuch as a magnetic disk or a memory card.

As large-capacity storage means inside the recording/reproducing device10, a hard disk drive (HDD) 15 for carrying out recording/reproductionof information to/from the hard disk is provided. For example, audioinformation read out from the CD-ROM 17 or the MD drive 18 is storedinto the HDD 15 on the file basis, that is, one tune as one file.

In the recording/reproducing device 10, there are also provided anencoder 28 for compressing audio data in accordance with the ATRAC2(Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding 2, trademark) system, and a decoder29 for decoding audio data compressed in accordance with the ATRAC2system. The encoder 28 and the decoder 29 carry out encoding anddecoding of the audio data supplied thereto, respectively, under thecontrol of the CPU 11. In the recording/reproducing device 10, a buffermemory 16 is provided for temporarily storing audio data as processingtarget. The buffer memory 16 carries out data writing/reading under thecontrol of the CPU 11.

In the case where audio data read out from the optical disc by theCD-ROM drive 17 is to be transferred to the HDD 15, the audio data readout from the optical disc is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 16and the audio data is supplied to and encoded by the encoder 28 inaccordance with the ATRAC2 system, as preprocessing for recording theaudio data onto the HDD 15. Moreover, the data encoded by the encoder 28is temporarily stored again in the buffer memory 16 and the encodedaudio information is ultimately stored onto the HDD 15.

In this example, the recording/reproducing device 10 is constituted sothat the audio data encoded in accordance with the ATRAC2 system by theencoder 28 is stored onto the HDD 15. However, the recording/reproducingdevice 10 may also be constituted so that the data read out from theCD-ROM drive 17 is stored as it is onto the HDD 15.

The encoder 28 not only encodes the audio data read out from the opticaldisc loaded on the CD-ROM drive 17. An audio signal inputted through anamplifier 32 via a microphone terminal ta3 connected with a microphoneand an audio signal inputted from a line input terminal ta2 connectedwith another equipment such as a CD player are also inputted to theencoder 28 via an A/D converter 31. These input audio data, too, areencoded by the encoder 28. In addition, the recording/reproducing device10 is constituted so that data inputted from an external equipment suchas a CD player connected to an optical digital terminal ta4 is inputtedto the encoder 28 via an IEC958 (International ElectrotechnicalCommission 958) encoder 30. Such digitally inputted data, too, isencoded by the encoder 28.

In the recording/reproducing device 10, after the data inputted from theexternal equipment as described above is encoded by the encoder 28, theencoded data can be stored onto the HDD 15 on the file basis. WhileATRAC2 is used as the encode algorithm of the encoder 28, any encodealgorithm for compressing information may be used, for example, ATRAC(trademark), MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group), PASC (PrecisionAdaptive Subband Coding), Twin VQ (trademark), Real Audio (trademark),Liquid Audio (trademark), and MS Audio (Microsoft Audio, trademark).

In the recording/reproducing device 10, a modem 19 is provided, which isan interface connectable to an external network connected as thecommunication channel 3 to a communication terminal ta5, for example,the Internet, a TEL network, a cable TV, and a wireless network. Throughthe modem 19, a request signal, medium information of a medium loaded onthe CD-ROM drive 17, user ID, user information and user accountinginformation are transmitted to a server at a remote location.

On the side of the server of the external network, that is, the serverthat can be connected via the communication channel 3, collationprocessing using the user ID, accounting processing, and retrieval ofmusic additional information from the disc information such as the titleof the tune, the name of the artist, the composer, the lyrics writer,the lyrics and the jacket image are carried out. The server of theexternal network is controlled to return predetermined informationrequested by the user, to the recording/reproducing device 10. In thisexample, additional related information of the music is returned.However, the tune information requested by the user may be down-loadeddirectly from the external network. Also, the tune information may bereturned corresponding to the medium information so that a bonus trackof a predetermined medium may be obtained by the recording/reproducingdevice 10 through distribution. In the above-described manner, thechargeable information is provided to the user from the server of theexternal network, and the recording/reproducing device 10 stores theinformation onto the HAD 15.

The audio information stored on the HAD 15 is decoded by the decoder 29and a playback sound is outputted from the speaker 35 through a D/Aconverter 33 and an amplifier 34. Alternatively, a playback sound isoutputted from headphones by connecting the headphones to the headphoneterminal tax. In this example, the decoder 29 carries out decoding inaccordance with the OUTRACE system. However, any decode algorithm may beused as long as it corresponds to the encode algorithm of the encoder28. Also, software processing by the CPU 11 may be employed, instead ofconstituting the encoder 28 and the decoder 29 as hardware.

In the recording/reproducing device 10, the display section 24 isprovided, as also shown in FIG. 2, as an interface for the user tomanage and control files of audio data and the like stored on the HAD15. The display section 24 is driven by a display driver 25. In thedisplay section 24, required characters, symbols and icons are displayedunder the control of the CPU 11.

In the display section 24, a folder corresponding to an audio file(hereinafter, a file in which audio data like music tunes are recordedis referred to as an audio file, as a matter of convenience), or ajacket image is displayed, and the operation thereof is made possible bya pointing device corresponding to the panel operating section 20 suchas a touch by a mouse, a pen or the user's finger. For example, theoperation to reproduce an audio file indicated by the user on thedisplay section 24 is carried out under the control of the CPU 11.

Also, the touch panel function of the display section 24 enables erasureof an audio file selected by the user on the touch panel and duplicationor shift to an external equipment such as the portable device 50 underthe control of the CPU 11. Alternatively, the display section 24 cangraphically display html (hyper text markup language) text as relatedinformation retrieved from the world wide web (WWW) site on the Interneton the basis of the table of contents (TOC) information of the opticaldisc loaded on the CD-ROM drive 17, and can be used as an ordinaryInternet browser.

The recording/reproducing device 10 is constituted so that audioinformation is taken from various equipments or systems connected to theterminal ta7 such as a satellite broadcasting IRD (integratedreceiver/decoder), an MD player, a DVD (digital video disc) player and aDV (digital video) player, via an IEEE (the Institute ElectronicsEngineers, Inc.) 1394 interface 37 and an IEEE1394 driver 36. In therecording/reproducing device 10, the PCMCIA (Personal Computer MemoryCard International Association) slot 39 is provided as an additionalfunction, as described above, so that a PCMCIA card can be inserted fromthe PCMCIA slot 39 to a PCMCIA driver 38. Thus, extension of an externalstorage device and various other peripheral equipments such as a mediumdrive, a modem, a terminal adapter and a capture board can be realizedeasily.

As described with reference to FIG. 2, the connector 27 for connectionwith the portable device 50 is provided in the recording/reproducingdevice 10. As the connector 27 is connected with the connector 60 of theportable device 50, the CPU 11 can communicate various data with theportable device 50 through the interface driver 26. For example, underthe control of the CPU 11, the interface driver 26 transfers the audiofile stored on the HDD 15 to the portable device 50 via the connectors27, 60.

The specific internal structure of the portable device 50 will now bedescribed with reference to FIG. 4.

The recording/reproducing device 10 and the portable device 50 areelectrically connected with each other as the connector 27 and theconnector 60 are connected with each other. Specifically, the interfacedriver 26 of the recording/reproducing device 10 and an interface driver59 of the portable device 50 are connected with each other to enabledata communication between the two equipments.

In the portable device 50, the push-type and rotary/press-type operatorsKb as described above are provided as a panel operating section 56. Byoperating the operators Kb of the panel operating section 56, anoperation signal for instructing the operation of the portable device 50is transmitted to a control bus B2 and the portable device 50 operatesin accordance with the operation signal.

In the portable device 50, similarly to the recording/reproducing device10, a RAM 53 and a ROM 52 are provided, which are components of anordinary personal computer, and the operation of the whole portabledevice 50 is controlled by a CPU 51. Transmission/reception of file dataand control data between respective blocks is carried out via the busB2.

In the ROM 52, a program to be executed by the CPU 51 in accordance withthe operation signal inputted by operating the panel operating section56 is stored. In the RAM 53, a data area and a task area required forexecuting the program are temporarily secured. In the portable device50, a flash memory may be loaded as in the recording/reproducing device10, and the bus structure is not limited to any specific system.

As internal storage means of the portable device 50, a hard disk driver(HDD) 54 for carrying out recording/reproduction of information to/froma hard disk is provided. For example, audio information transferred fromthe recording/reproducing device 10 via an interface (I/F) driver 59 isstored onto the HDD 54 on the file basis, for example, one tune as onefile. A solid state memory such as a flash memory may be used as thestorage means in place of the HDD.

In the portable device 50, similarly to the recording/reproducing device10, an encoder 61 for compressing audio data in accordance with theOUTRACE system and a decoder 62 for decoding audio data compressed inaccordance with the OUTRACE system are provided. The encoder 61 and thedecoder 62 carry out encoding and decoding of the audio data suppliedthereto, respectively, under the control of the CPU 51. In the portabledevice 50, a buffer memory 55 is provided for temporarily storing audiodata as a processing target. The buffer memory 55 carries out datawriting/reading under the control of the CPU 51.

For example, in the case where audio data which is not encoded inaccordance with the OUTRACE system is supplied from therecording/reproducing device 10 via the interface driver 59, the audiodata is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 55 and the audio data issupplied to and encoded by the encoder 61 in accordance with the OUTRACEsystem, as preprocessing for recording the audio data onto the HAD 54.Moreover, the encoded data is temporarily stored again in the buffermemory 55 and the encoded audio information is ultimately stored ontothe HAD 54.

In this example, audio files encoded in accordance with the OUTRACEsystem are stored on the HAD 15 of the recording/reproducing device 10.Therefore, in the case where the audio file stored on the HAD 15 issupplied via the interface driver 59 and stored onto the HAD 54, thatis, in the case where the data file of a tune is duplicated or shiftedfrom the HAD 15 to the HAD 54, the processing by the encoder 61 is notnecessary. Meanwhile, the audio data read out from the optical discloaded on the CD-ROM drive 17 of the recording/reproducing device 10,that is, non-compressed audio data, may be inputted as it is via theinterface driver 59. In such case, encoding by the encoder 61 is carriedout as described above as the processing for recording the audio dataonto the HAD 54.

In this example, the portable device 50 is constituted so that the audiodata encoded in accordance with the OUTRACE system by the encoder 61 isstored onto the HAD 54. However, the portable device 50 may also beconstituted so that non-compressed audio data is stored as it is ontothe HAD 54.

In the portable device 50, as the means for supplying the audio data tothe encoder 61 for compression, a microphone terminal Tb, a line inputterminal Tb, and an optical digital terminal Tb are provided as well asthe above-described interface driver 59. The terminals Tb to Tb in FIG.4 correspond to the respective ones of the terminals tb shown in FIG. 2.

The encoder 61 is constituted so that an audio signal inputted throughan amplifier 65 from the microphone terminal tb3 connected with amicrophone or an audio signal inputted from the line input terminal tb2connected with another equipment such as a CD player is inputted throughan A/D converter 64. Such input audio data, too, is encoded by theencoder 61. Moreover, the portable device 50 is constituted so that datainputted from an external equipment (e.g., CD player) connected to theoptical digital terminal tb4 is inputted to the encoder 61 via an IEC958encoder 63. The data thus digitally inputted is also encoded by theencoder 61.

In the portable device 50, after the data inputted from the externalequipment as described above is encoded by the encoder 61, the encodeddata can be stored onto the HDD 54 on the file basis. The encodealgorithm of the encoder 61 is not limited to ATRAC2 and may be anotherencode algorithm for compressing information such as ATRAC, MPEG, PASC,Twin VQ, Real Audio, or Liquid Audio.

The audio information stored on the HDD 54 is decoded by the decoder 62and a playback sound is outputted from the speaker 68 via a D/Aconverter 66 and an amplifier 67. Alternatively, a playback sound isoutputted from headphones by connecting headphones to the headphoneterminal tbl. Although the decoder 62 carries out decoding in accordancewith the ATRAC2 system in this example, any decode algorithm may beemployed as long as it corresponds to the encode algorithm of theencoder 61. Also, software processing by the CPU 51 may be employed,instead of constituting the encoder 61 and the decoder 62 as hardware.

In addition, in the portable device 50, the display section 57 isprovided, as also shown in FIG. 2, as an interface for the user tomanage and control files of audio data and the like stored on the HDD54. The display section 57 is driven by a display driver 58. In thedisplay section 57, required characters, symbols and icons are displayedunder the control of the CPU 51.

In the display section 57, a folder corresponding to an audio file or ajacket image is displayed, and the operation thereof is made possible bya pointing device corresponding to the panel operating section 20 suchas a touch by a mouse, a pen or the user's finger. For example, theoperation to reproduce from the speaker 68 an audio file indicated bythe user on the display section 57 is carried out under the control ofthe CPU 51.

Also, the touch panel function of the display section 57 enables erasureof an audio file selected by the user on the touch panel and duplicationor shift to an external equipment such as the recording/reproducingdevice 10 under the control of the CPU 51.

As described with reference to FIG. 2, data transmission/receptionbetween the portable device 50 and the recording/reproducing device 10is made possible by loading the portable device 50 to the loadingsection MT of the recording/reproducing device 10. However, the portabledevice 50 may have a non-contact interface such as IrDA.

Although not shown, a charging current supply section is provided in therecording/reproducing device 10. The charging current supply section maysupply a charging current to the portable device 50 loaded therein so asto charge a charge-type battery, which is the operation power source ofthe portable device 50.

FIG. 5 shows a specific example of the file storage mode in the HDD 15of the recording/reproducing device 10.

For example, the user loads his/her CD onto the CD-ROM drive 17 andrecords, that is, duplicates each recorded music tune as a file onto theHDD 15. Alternatively, the user can send a request to thedistribution/accounting center 1, then receive information of a musicalbum in response to the request, and record each music tune of themusic album as each file onto the HDD 15.

As the data is thus stored on the album basis like CD, a management fileis formed for each album and each music tune is stored as one audiofile.

FIG. 5 shows the state where n music albums are recorded on the HDD 15.Management files AL (AL1 to AL(n)) corresponding to the respectivealbums are formed. Music tunes recorded on each album are stores asaudio files, while corresponding to the management file AL.

In FIG. 5, files shown in one row express files constituting one album.Dubbing data from a certain CD, that is, respective tunes, are stored asaudio files AL1-M1, AL1-M2, AL1-M3, . . . corresponding to themanagement file AL1. Data from another album, that is, respective tunes,are stores as audio files AL2-M1, AL2-M2, AL2-M3, . . . corresponding tothe management file AL2. That is, AL(n)-M1, AL(n)-M2, AL(n)-M3, . . .are the actual music data.

In this manner, in recording one album to the HDD 15, audio filescorresponding to the number of recorded tunes are formed together withone management file.

In recording a certain music album to the HDD 15, the user inputs dataor receives chargeable or free related information with respect to thealbum from the distribution/accounting center 1, thereby storing suchinformation as a related information file. For example, a relatedinformation file AL1ad is formed corresponding to the management fileALl. Data stored as the related information file AL(*)ad includes textdata such as the title of tunes, the name of the artist, lyrics andmessages, image data such as a tune image and an image of the artist,the home page address (URL) of the artist, copyright-relatedinformation, names of parties concerned (lyrics writer, composer,producer) and the like, as described above.

The management file AL(*) includes various kinds of managementinformation related to the corresponding one or plural audio files andrelated information files, and is used for reproduction, shift,duplication and editing of each audio file and related information file.For example, the management file AL1 contains management information forthe whole group of files constituting a certain album, managementinformation related to the respective audio files AL1-M1, AL1-M2,AL1-M3, ..., and management information related to the relatedinformation file AL1ad.

FIG. 6 shows a specific example of management information recorded inthe management file.

Album information, which is the management information for the wholealbum, includes, for example, the type and number of files, album title,data size, date and time information of recording, names of partiesconcerned (album producer, lyrics writer, composer, performer, etc.),copyright information, album ID, information use permission flag, andvarious other management information. The information use permissionflag is a flag for preventing the use of information in the state whereappropriate accounting is not made with respect to the chargeableinformation. This function will be described later.

In the management file AL(*), file information (#1) to file information(#m) are also recorded as management information corresponding toindividual audio files. The file information includes, for example, thetype of the corresponding file, address pointer indicating the recordingposition of the corresponding file on the HDD 15, data size of the file,title (title of tune, etc.), date and time information of recording,names of parties concerned (lyrics writer, composer, performer, etc.),copyright information, information use permission flag, and variousother management information.

Moreover, in the management file AL(*), related file information isrecorded as management information for managing the correspondingrelated information file. The related file information includes, forexample, the type and number of corresponding related information files,address pointer indicating the recording position of the correspondingrelated information file on the HDD 15, data size of the relatedinformation file, date and time information of recording, names ofparties concerned, copyright information, information use permissionflag, and various other management information.

As such management information is recorded in the management file (*),the recording/reproducing device 10 is enabled to carry out variousprocessing such as reproduction, shift, duplication, and editing of aspecified tune. Under the control of the CPU 11, therecording/reproducing device 10 is also enabled to output images andtexts as related information along the operation of reproduction of thetune.

The file storage mode shown in FIG. 5 and the contents of the managementinformation shown in FIG. 6 are only examples. In reality, any filestorage mode and management mode suitable for various processing ofaudio data files, which are real data to be stored, may be employed. Theaudio data files need not be managed on the album basis and can bemanaged as a group of tunes preferred by the user or as a group of eachgenre in accordance with the instruction from the user. Not only audiofiles of tunes but also dynamic image data, still image data, text data,and programs as game software may be stored as real files, that is, asrelated information files but as independent files.

In the HDD 54 of the portable device 50, too, a file storage modesimilar to that of HDD 15 may be employed.

The accounting processing according to the present invention will now bedescribed.

As described above, the user can purchase information by, for example,storing chargeable information distributed from thedistribution/accounting center 1 or the distribution center 7 onto theHDD 15 of the recording/reproducing device 10. The user also canpurchase information by loading the portable device 50 into thedown-load device 6 and recording arbitrary information onto the HDD 54.The chargeable information recorded on the HDD 54 in the portable device50 can be shifted to the HDD 15 of the recording/reproducing device 10and made available there, or can be used or reproduced as it is storedon the HDD 54 of the portable device 50.

The chargeable information stored on the HDD 15 or the HDD 54 cannot beused when appropriate accounting is not carried out. For example, withrespect to the chargeable information, the information use permissionflag shown in FIG. 6 is set to the off-state, that is, the useprohibition state in recording to the HDD 15 or the HDD 54. Theappropriate accounting by the user switches the information usepermission flag to the on-state, that is, the use permission state.

The CPU 11 or the CPU 51 confirms the information use permission flag ofthe file stored on the HDD 15 or the HDD 54 and controls the executionof the reproducing operation or the like, thus setting the useprohibition state, that is, prohibiting the use by the user of the filefor which accounting is not carried out.

The accounting processing for making the file available is theprocessing of points stored in the point memory 45 and is not theaccounting processing at the distribution/accounting center 1.

Specifically, when the point processing is carried out in therecording/reproducing device 10, the file as the chargeable informationinputted to the recording/reproducing device 10 and recorded on the HDD15 is made available to the user.

In the following example of the accounting processing, the number ofpoints PT and point use records R1, R2, . . . as shown in FIG. 7 arestored into the point memory 45.

In this example, the number of points PT is set at a fixed value, forexample, 100 points, as an initial value. Every time the chargeableinformation is inputted to the recording/reproducing device 10 andrecorded onto the HDD 15, the CPU 11 subtracts the number of pointsequivalent to the fee of the information contents from the stored numberof points PT and thus updates the number of points PT. This processingis the accounting processing in the recording/reproducing device 10.

The point use records R1, R2, . . . are added in accordance with theconsumption of the number of points PT, that is, the input of thechargeable information. The contents of this data include the date andtime of input of chargeable data, name of data, number of subtractionpoints, and payee (name of seller, name of copyright holder, etc.)

In this manner, the accounting processing in the recording/reproducingdevice 10 is executed by subtracting the number of points PT inaccordance with the input of chargeable information. The CPU 11 thusregards that the user paid the fee and permits the use of the chargeableinformation. That is, the CPU 11 sets the above-described informationuse permission flag in the on-state.

Meanwhile, the actual accounting, for example, the processing fordrawing the fee from the bank account of the user is carried out at thedistribution/accounting center 1 through communication between the CPU11 and the distribution/accounting center 1, which is carried outperiodically or when the number of points PT is insufficient.

The operation of the CPU 11 for realizing such accounting processingwill be described with reference to the flowcharts of Figs.8 to 10, andthe processing at the distribution/accounting center 1 will be describedwith reference to the flowchart of FIG. ll.

At steps S1 and S2 of FIG. 8, the CPU 11 monitors whether chargeableinformation is constantly inputted or whether the periodical accountingdate and time have been reached, with respect to the accountingprocessing.

When the chargeable information is provided from thedistribution/accounting center 1 in response to a request for purchaseof information by the user, the CPU 11 advances from step S1 to step S4so as to carry out operation control for recording the input informationto the HDD 15. At step S5, the CPU 11 sets the information usepermission flag in the off-state, that is, the use prohibition state,with respect to the file stored on the HDD 15.

At step S6, the CPU 11 discriminates whether or not the number of pointsequivalent to the fee for the information now inputted is left as thenumber of points PT in the point memory 45.

If the number of points PT is left, the CPU 11 at step S7 subtracts thenumber of points PT and additionally stores a point use record R(x) withrespect to this information purchase to the point memory 45.Specifically, the CPU 11 finds and updates the number of points PT inaccordance with the following equation.Number of points PT=(number of points PT)−(number of points equivalentto fee for information of this time)The CPU 11 stores the current date and time, name of purchase data,number of subtraction points (=number of points equivalent to fee forinformation of this time) and payee as one point use record R(x) to thepoint memory 45. The information such as the name of purchase data andpayee is simultaneously transmitted from the information provider suchas the distribution/accounting center 1. Such information may beunnecessary depending on the accounting mode, that is, the contract modeof the right holder.

After updating the contents of the point memory 45 at step S7, the CPU11 at step S8 regards that the fee for the information now stored on theHDD 15 has been paid, and sets the information use permission flag inthe on-state, that is, the use permission state, with respect to theinformation file.

For the user, the information is made available when the temporaryaccounting, that is, the point subtraction, is carried out with respectto the distributed information. It means that the user can immediatelyuse the information on receiving the distribution of the information,without any latency time for communication with thedistribution/accounting center 1 for accounting processing.

The actual accounting processing, for example, the precessing fordrawing the fee from the back account of the user is carried outperiodically and automatically. Specifically, every predeterminedaccounting date and time, the processing of the CPU 11 advances fromstep S2 to step S3. The accounting date and time are preset to aspecified time point of each predetermined period, for example, everyday or every week, in the processing program of the CPU 11. Since theaccounting processing requires communication with thedistribution/accounting center 1, it is convenient to set the specifiedtime point during a time period such as midnight in which the user isnormally unlikely to use the recording/reproducing device 10. It ispossible that the user can set the specified date and time.

At step S3, the CPU 11 discriminates whether or not the number of pointsPT of the point memory 45 is updated after the previous accounting timepoint, that is, after the previous accounting processing by thedistribution/accounting center 1. That is, the CPU 11 discriminateswhether or not the user purchased information.

In this example, every time the accounting processing by thedistribution/accounting center 1 is carried out, the number of points ofthe point memory 45 is restored to the initial value and the point userecords R1, . . . are cleared. Therefore, if purchase of information isnot carried out, the number of points PT of the point memory 45 is atthe initial value and no point use record is stored. In such initialstate, the actual accounting processing at the distribution/accountingcenter 1 need not be carried out this time and therefore the CPU 11returns from step S3 to the loop of steps S1 and S2.

If the number of points PT of the point memory 45 is not at the initialvalue and one or more point use records are stored, it means that theuser purchased information. Therefore, the processing goes to step S9and the accounting processing at the distribution/accounting center 1 iscarried out.

Specifically, at step S9, the CPU 11 connects the communication channelto the distribution/accounting center 1 and makes an accounting request.Then, at step S10, the CPU 11 waits until an OK notification is receivedfrom the distribution/accounting center 1.

In accordance with the channel connection and accounting request at stepS9, the processing shown in FIG. 11 is carried out at thedistribution/accounting center 1. The distribution/accounting processingat the distribution/accounting center 1 shown in FIG. 11 is executed bya controller or the like of the distribution/accounting center 1, thoughnot shown. Specifically, when an accounting request is sent from acertain recording/reproducing device 10, the controller of thedistribution/accounting center 1 advances from step S41 to step S42 tocarry out preparation processing for accounting. For example, the CPU 11transmits necessary information such as the user ID, equipment ID andpassword number set by the user together with the accounting request,and the controller of the distribution/accounting center 1 carries outauthentication processing based on the transmitted information as thepreparation processing of step S42. That is, the controllerdiscriminates whether or not the accounting request is an appropriateaccounting request from an appropriate user.

On completion of the authentication and other preparation processing,the controller at step S43 sends an OK notification to therecording/reproducing device 10. At step S44, the controller waits fortransmission from the recording/reproducing device 10. Although notshown, the processing ends with an error if inconvenience such as anauthentication error occurs at step S43.

When the OK notification is sent from the distribution/accounting center1, the CPU 11 advances from step S10 to step S11 of FIG. 8 and transmitsthe number of points PT and the point use record stored in the pointmemory 45 at that time to the distribution/accounting center 1. At stepS12 and S13, the CPU 11 waits for an OK notification or NG notificationfrom the distribution/accounting center 1.

On the side of the distribution/accounting center 1, when the number ofpoints PT and the point use record are transmitted from therecording/reproducing device 10, the controller advances from step S44to step S45 of FIG. 11 and takes the received data. At step S46, thecontroller carries out accounting processing based on the receivednumber of points PT and point use record. Specifically, since thedifference between the initial number of points and the transmittedcurrent number of points is the number of points equivalent to theamount of information purchase by the user, the controller discriminatesthe number of purchase points and prepares data for drawing from thebank account of the user. The controller also discriminates the rightholder who is to receive the fee for the offer of information, from thepoint user record, and prepares data for distribution of the fee.

When such accounting processing normally ends, the processing at thedistribution/accounting center 1 proceeds from step S47 to step S50 andthe controller sends an OK notification to the recording/reproducingdevice 10.

Meanwhile, if an accounting error occurs for a certain reason, theprocessing proceeds from step S48 to step S49 and the controller sendsan NG notification to the recording/reproducing device 10. At step S51,the controller disconnects the line with the recording/reproducingdevice 10.

When an OK notification is sent from the distribution/accounting center1, the CPU 11 of the recording/reproducing device 10 determines that theaccounting processing by the distribution/accounting center 1 endsproperly, and proceeds from step S12 to step S14 to initialize the pointmemory 45. That is, the CPU 11 restores the number of points PT to theinitial value and clears the point use record. Thus, the periodicalaccounting precessing ends.

If an NG notification is sent from the distribution/accounting center 1,the CPU 11 carries out the processing from step S9 again. If anaccounting error occurs at the distribution/accounting center 1, the CPU11 is to carry out such retrial. Therefore, the processing from step Sllmay be executed with the line kept connected.

Meanwhile, in the above-described processing of steps S1 to S8, thetemporary accounting processing in the form of point subtraction iscarried out at the time of input of chargeable information. In the casewhere a large volume of information is continuously purchased, there maybe the case where the number of points is insufficient at step S6. Insuch case, the processing proceeds to step S6 to step S21 of FIG. 9 inthis example. Specifically, in the case of insufficient points, the CPU11 provisionally requests accounting processing to thedistribution/accounting center 1 so as to carry out processing torestore the number of points to the initial value.

At step S21, the CPU 11 connects the communication channel to thedistribution/accounting center 1 and makes a request for accountingprocessing. At step S22, the CPU 11 waits for an OK notification fromthe distribution/accounting center 1.

Similarly to the above-described periodical accounting processing, theprocessing of FIG. 11 is carried out at the distribution/accountingcenter 1 in accordance with such channel connection and request foraccounting. On completion of the preparation processing such asauthentication, an OK notification is sent to the recording/reproducingdevice 10 at step S43. If any inconvenience such as an authenticationerror occurs, the processing ends with an error.

When an OK notification is sent from the distribution/accounting center1, the CPU 11 proceeds from step S22 to step S23 of FIG. 9 and transmitsthe number of points PT and the point use record stored in the pointmemory 45 at that time to the distribution/accounting center 1. “Numberof necessary points of this time” and “accounting information forchargeable information of this time” described in parentheses at stepS23 are information to be transmitted in another processing, which willbe described later. At steps S24 and S25, the CPU 11 waits for an OKnotification or NG notification.

When the number of points PT and the point use record are transmittedfrom the recording/reproducing device 10, the controller of thedistribution/accounting center 1 proceeds from step S44 to steps S45 andS46 of FIG. 11 and carries out accounting processing based on the numberof points PT and the point use record, similarly to the above-describedabove. As the accounting processing normally ends, the controllerproceeds to step S50 and sends an OK notification to therecording/reproducing device 10. If an accounting error occurs for acertain reason, the controller proceeds to step S49 and sends an NGnotification to the recording/reproducing device 10. At step S51, thecontroller disconnects the line with the recording/reproducing device10.

When an OK notification is sent from the distribution/accounting center1, the CPU 11 of the recording/reproducing device 10 determines that theaccounting processing has properly ended, and proceeds from step S24 tostep S26 of FIG. 9 so as to initialize the point memory 45.Specifically, the CPU 11 restores the number of points PT to the initialvalue and clears the point use record. Meanwhile, when an NGnotification is sent from the distribution/accounting center 1, the CPU11 carries out the processing from step S21 again.

As the point memory 45 is initialized at step S26, that is, as thenumber of points PT is set at the initial value, the number of pointsequivalent to the fee for the information that is inputted this time issecured. Thus, the CPU 11 proceeds to step S7 of FIG. 8 to subtract thenumber of points PT in accordance with the information purchase of thistime and to additionally store the point use record R(x) with respect tothe information purchase of this time.

After thus updating the contents of the point memory 45, the CPU 11 atstep S8 regards that the fee has been paid with respect to theinformation stored on the HDD 15 this time, and sets the information usepermission flag in the on-state, that is, the use permission state, withrespect to that information file.

In accordance with the above-described processing, even in the casewhere the number of points is insufficient as the user purchases a largevolume of information at a time, the number of points is restored to theinitial value through the provisional accounting processing at thedistribution/accounting center 1. That is, the temporary accountingprocessing by means of subtraction of the number of points is madepossible. Therefore, the user can use the information without waitingfor the periodically executed accounting processing after step S9.

As another example of the processing of step S23 of FIG. 9, the numberof necessary points of this time and the accounting information ofchargeable information of this time may also be transmitted to thedistribution/accounting center 1, as well as the current number ofpoints PT and point use record. In this case, the accounting processingof step S46 of FIG. 11 at the distribution/accounting center 1 includesthe processing of the fee for the information input of this time as wellas the processing with the number of points PT and point use record,that is, the settlement processing with respect to the informationpurchase up to immediately before the information input of this time. Insuch case, since the fee for insufficiency of this time is settled, theprocessing of step S7 is not necessary and the processing may proceedfrom step S26 of FIG. 9 to step S8 of FIG. 8, as indicated by a brokenline in FIG. 8.

In the case where the user purchased information by recording chargeableinformation onto the HDD 15 of the recording/reproducing device 10, theaccounting processing is carried out as described above. However, theuser can also purchase the chargeable information by setting theportable device 50 into the down-load device 6 of FIG. 1 as describedabove. In this case, the down-load device 6 down-loads the informationdesignated by the user to the HDD 54 in the portable device 50 but setsthe down-loaded file in the use prohibition state at that time. That is,the information use permission flag is set in the off-state with respectto the file on the HDD 54. In order to use the file down-loaded in theportable device 50, the user must connect the portable device 50 to therecording/reproducing device 10 to shift the file to therecording/reproducing device 10 and carry out the point processing, ormust carry out point processing by using the recording/reproducingdevice 10.

In the case where the file down-loaded in the portable device 50 isshifted to the HDD 15 of the recording/reproducing device 10 so as to beused, the recording/reproducing device 10 regards the file shift as theinput of chargeable information in the processing of FIG. 8 and carriesout the processing of step S4 and the subsequent steps as describedabove. Specifically, the recording/reproducing device 10 carries out thetemporary accounting processing through the point processing and setsthe file shifted to the HDD 15 into the use permission state. Afterthat, the user can freely use the file.

On the other hand, the file down-loaded to the portable device 50 canalso be made available in the portable device 50 by carrying out onlythe point processing at the recording/reproducing device 10, withoutshifting the file to the HDD 15 of the recording/reproducing device 10.The processing operation therefor of the CPU 11 of therecording/reproducing device 10 will now be described with reference tothe flowchart of FIG. 10.

At step S31 of FIG. l0, the CPU 11 monitors the connection with theportable device 50. When the connection with the portable device 50 isdetected, the CPU 11 advances to step S32 and confirms the file storedon the HDD 54 of the portable device 50. At step S33, the CPU 11discriminates whether or not there is any file in the use prohibitionstate at that time. The case where there is a file in the useprohibition state is the case where there is a file of chargeableinformation which is down-loaded from the down-load device 6 by usingthe portable device 50 and for which the accounting processing has notbeen carried out yet.

Thus, at step S34, the CPU 11 confirms the number of points of the pointmemory 45 and discriminates whether or not the number of pointsequivalent to the fee for the file in the use prohibition state is leftas the number of points PT. If the number of points PT is left, the CPU11 at step S35 subtracts the number of points PT and additionally storesthe point use record R(x).

Subsequently, at step S36, the CPU 11 regards that the fee has been paidfor the file in the use prohibition state stored on the HDD 54 of theportable device 50, and sets the information use permission flag in theon-state, that is, the use permission state. Specifically, the CPU 11sets the information use permission flag in the on-state by directlyaccessing the HDD 54 or through the CPU 51. Thus, the user can use thechargeable information down-loaded to the portable device 50.

If the number of points is insufficient at step S34, the CPU 11 carriesout the processing of FIG. 9 similarly to the case of step S6 of FIG. 8.

As the processing of FIGS .8 to 11 is thus carried out, the user neednot carry out the operation for the accounting processing with respectto the purchase of the chargeable information and therefore needs tocarry out little troublesome operation. For example, the processing witha prepaid card or the like is not necessary. Also, a card reader andother equipments and operators necessary for the accounting processingare not required, thus enabling simplification of the structure of therecording/reproducing device 10. Moreover, since the actual accountingprocessing using the communication with the distribution/accountingcenter 1 is carried out periodically and automatically, the user willnot experience any trouble in this regard.

Since the accounting processing through the communication with thedistribution/accounting center 1 is not carried out every time theinformation is inputted, the user need not wait for the accountingprocessing and can immediately use the obtained information. In the casewhere the number of points is insufficient, the accounting processingand initialization of the number of points through the communicationwith the distribution/accounting center 1 are provisionally carried out.Therefore, even in the case where the number of points is insufficient,it is possible to avoid such a situation that the user cannot use theobtained information.

In addition, information can be purchased by using the portable device50 and the accounting can be carried out by the point processing usingthe recording/reproducing device 10. Therefore, diversification of themeans for obtaining information can be realized and the accountingprocessing can be smoothly carried out.

While various modifications of the processing can be considered,specific examples as modifications will be described.

In the above-described example, the number of points PT in the pointmemory 45 is initially set at the specified initial value, and thenumber of points PT is restored to the initial value at steps S14 andS26. However, the initial value may be not only a fixed value but alsomay be set by the user. For example, for a user who wants to purchase alarge volume of information, it is preferred to set a large number ofpoints as an initial value so as to best avoid the insufficiency ofpoints at steps S6 and S34. That is, in the case of the insufficient ofpoints, the user must wait for the communication and accountingprocessing time to carry out the provisional accounting processingthrough communication with the distribution/accounting center 1, andsome users want to avoid such a situation as much as possible.Therefore, if the initial value of the number of points can be selectedby the user, the accounting processing preferred by each user can berealized. In the case where the initial value can be thus changed, theCPU 11 needs to transmit the current number of points and the initialvalue in carrying out the accounting processing through communicationwith the distribution/accounting center 1, so that thedistribution/accounting center 1 determines the number of points to beused.

Regardless of whether the initial value is fixed or can be changed, thecurrent number of points and the number of points to be used may bestored in the point memory 45 so as to transmit the number of point tobe used to the distribution/accounting center 1.

In the above-described example, the point use record is stored in thepoint memory 45. However, it is also possible not to store the point userecord. For example, if the distribution/accounting center 1 simplycollects from the user the fee corresponding to the informationpurchase, the accounting amount can be determined only from the pointvalue and therefore the point use record is not necessary. That is, inthe case where the distribution/accounting center 1 need not carry outdistribution of the fee to another organization or the right holder, orin the case where the fee is uniformly and fairly distributed to thecopyright holder and the like, the processing corresponding to the pointuse record, that is, the processing for discriminating the informationpurchased by the user, is not necessary.

Since the point use record has the meaning of information purchaserecord to the user, the point use record may be so constituted that itis not cleared on completion of the accounting processing at thedistribution/accounting center 1 and the entire point record informationmay be cumulatively stored on the HDD or the like. In this manner, theuser can confirm the past information purchase state by causing the CPU11 to display the record in a list.

In the above-described example, when the points become insufficient, theaccounting processing through communication with thedistribution/accounting center 1 is provisionally carried out. However,it is also possible to save the file in the use prohibition state whenthe points are insufficient, without carrying out such provisionalprocessing. Specifically, when the number of points is initialized afterthe subsequent periodical processing (steps S9 to S14), the number ofpoints is subtracted to make the file available. Alternatively, when thepoints are insufficient, it may be considered to delete the stored fileor to confirm the number of points before the storage to the HDD 15 andprohibit the recording operation if the points are insufficient.

In the above-described example, in order to carry out the accountingprocessing through periodical or provisional communication with thedistribution/accounting center 1, it is assumed that therecording/reproducing device 10 is physically connected to thedistribution/accounting center 1 via the communication channel 3. Forexample, in the state where the user has detached the connection cord ofthe communication channel 3 from the recording/reproducing device 10 fora certain reason, the accounting processing at thedistribution/accounting center 1 cannot be executed. Since theaccounting processing through communication with thedistribution/accounting center 1 has the meaning of settlement withrespect to the provisional accounting through the point processing, theinability to communicate means that appropriate accounting cannot becarried out. It may also lead to unauthorized use such that theconnection cord is detached to prevent communication, that is, toprevent settlement after information for some points are obtained.

Thus, in order to prevent such a situation that the accountingprocessing cannot be carried out because of the carelessness of the useror to prevent the intentional unauthorized use, it is appropriate towarn the user of the inability to communicate and request connection inthe case where the connection cord is detached when the accounting dateand time are reached at step S2. In addition, in order to make theconnection compulsory to a certain extent, it may be considered to makeunavailable all the files in the HDD 15 or the files for whichsettlement has not been carried out or to cause therecording/reproducing device 10 to stop the entire operating functionsuntil the connection is restored.

In the above-described example, the provisional accounting is carriedout by the point subtraction method. However, it may also be consideredto carry out the provisional accounting by a point addition method, thenperiodically communicate with the distribution/accounting center 1 toexecute the accounting processing corresponding to the number of pointsat that time point, and restore the number of points to zero oncompletion of the accounting processing. The point subtraction method asin the above-described example has such an effect that excessiveinformation purchase by the user can be restrained, that is, the usercan be aware of the insufficiency of points when it occurs.

Another specific example of the accounting processing will now bedescribed.

In the above-described example (first accounting processing), theprovisional accounting is carried out through the point processing atthe recording/reproducing device 10, and the actual accountingprocessing is carried out by periodically communicating with thedistribution/accounting center 1 to carry out settlement correspondingto the quantity of point consumption. On the other hand, in this example(second accounting processing), the actual accounting processing iscarried out simply when the user purchases the number of points from thedistribution/accounting center 1, and after that, the user can obtaininformation as long as the number of points is left. That is, advanceaccounting as in the prepaid card is realized by the point processing.

In this case, it suffices that the number of points PT shown in FIG. 7is stored in the point memory 45. The point use records R1, R2, . . .may be stored. These records are not used for accounting but enable theuser to confirm the information purchase record. The accountingprocessing in the recording/reproducing device 10 is carried out bysubtracting the number of points corresponding to the input ofchargeable information, similarly to the first accounting processing.

The operation of the CPU 11 for realizing such second accountingprocessing will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.13 and 14 and the processing at the distribution/accounting center 1will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 15.

At steps S61 and S62 of FIG. 13, the CPU 11 monitors whether chargeableinformation is constantly inputted or whether the point purchaseoperation by the user has been carried out, with respect to theaccounting processing.

When the chargeable information is provided from thedistribution/accounting center 1 in response to a request for purchaseof information by the user, the CPU 11 advances from step S61 to stepS63 so as to carry out operation control for recording the inputinformation to the HDD 15. At step S64, the CPU 11 sets the informationuse permission flag in the off-state, that is, the use prohibitionstate, with respect to the file stored on the HDD 15.

At step S65, the CPU 11 discriminates whether or not the number ofpoints equivalent to the fee for the information now inputted is left asthe number of points PT in the point memory 45.

If the number of points PT is left, the CPU 11 at step S66 subtracts thenumber of points PT. Specifically, the CPU 11 finds and updates thenumber of points in accordance with the following equation.

Number of points PT = (number of points PT) − (number of pointsequivalent to fee for information of this time)

After updating the number of points PT of the point memory 45 at stepS66, the CPU 11 at step S67 regards that the fee for the information nowstored on the HDD 15 has been paid, and sets the information usepermission flag in the on-state, that is, the use permission state, withrespect to the information file.

For the user, the information is made available when the temporaryaccounting, that is, the point subtraction, is carried out with respectto the distributed information. It means that the user can immediatelyuse the information on receiving the distribution of the information,without any latency time for communication with thedistribution/accounting center 1 for accounting processing.

On the other hand, if it is determined at step S65 that the number ofpoints is insufficient, the CPU 11 ends the processing at that time.That is, the information stored on the HDD 15 remains unavailable.

As described above, the user can carry out the operation to purchase thenumber of points, if necessary, at an arbitrary time point. As thepurchase operation by the user is carried out, the processing of the CPU11 advances from step S62 to step S68 and an operation image for pointpurchase as shown in FIG. 12 is first displayed in the display section24. The user selects the quantity of point purchase from this screen andcarries out decision operation. For example, the user carries outoperation by touching the screen. When the user carries out canceloperation, the CPU 11 stops the point purchase processing at step S70.

When the user selects the quantity of point purchase from the screen ofFIG. 12 and carries out the decision operation, the processing of theCPU 11 proceeds from step S69 to step S71 to connect the communicationchannel to the distribution/accounting center 1 and send a pointpurchase request. At step S72, the CPU 11 waits for reception of an OKnotification from the distribution/accounting center 1.

In accordance with the channel connection and point purchase request atstep S71, the processing shown in FIG. 15 is carried out at thedistribution/accounting center 1. The distribution/accounting processingat the distribution/accounting center 1 shown in FIG. 15 is carries outby the controller and the like of the distribution/accounting center 1,similarly to the first accounting processing. Specifically, when a pointpurchase request is sent from a certain recording/reproducing device 10,the controller of the distribution/accounting center 1 advances fromstep S91 to step S92 to carry out preparation processing for pointsales. For example, the CPU 11 transmits necessary information such asthe user ID, equipment ID and password number set by the user togetherwith the point purchase request, and the controller of thedistribution/accounting center 1 carries out authentication processingbased on the transmitted information as the preparation processing ofstep S92. That is, the controller discriminates whether or not the pointpurchase request is an appropriate point purchase request from anappropriate user.

On completion of the authentication and other preparation processing,the controller at step S93 sends an OK notification to therecording/reproducing device 10. At step S94, the controller waits fortransmission from the recording/reproducing device 10. Although notshown, the processing ends with an error if inconvenience such as anauthentication error occurs at step S93.

When the OK notification is sent from the distribution/accounting center1, the CPU 11 advances from step S72 to step S73 of FIG. 13 andtransmits the quantity of point purchase selected by the user to thedistribution/accounting center 1. At step S74 and S75, the CPU 11 waitsfor an OK notification or NG notification from thedistribution/accounting center 1.

On the side of the distribution/accounting center 1, when the quantityof point purchase is transmitted from the recording/reproducing device10, the controller advances from step S94 to step S95 of FIG. 15 andtakes the received data. At step S96, the controller carries outaccounting processing based on the quantity of point purchase receivedfrom the recording/reproducing device 10. Specifically, the controllerprepares data for drawing from the bank account of the user inaccordance with the quantity of point purchase.

When such accounting processing normally ends, the processing at thedistribution/accounting center 1 proceeds from step S97 to step S100 andthe controller sends an OK notification to the recording/reproducingdevice 10.

Meanwhile, if an accounting error occurs for a certain reason, theprocessing proceeds from step S98 to step S99 and the controller sendsan NG notification to the recording/reproducing device 10. At step S101,the controller disconnects the line with the recording/reproducingdevice 10.

When an OK notification is sent from the distribution/accounting center1, the CPU 11 of the recording/reproducing device 10 determines that theaccounting processing for point sales by the distribution/accountingcenter 1 ends properly, and proceeds from step S74 to step S76 to addthe number of purchased points, that is, the quantity of points selectedby the user for purchase, to the number of points PT at that time.

If an NG notification is sent from the distribution/accounting center 1,the CPU 11 returns from step S75 to step S71 to carry out thecommunication processing again. If an accounting error occurs at thedistribution/accounting center 1, the CPU 11 is to carry out suchretrial. Therefore, in such case, the CPU 11 may carry out theprocessing from step S73 with the line kept connected.

After purchasing the points from the distribution/accounting center 1and supplementing the point memory 45 with the quantity of purchasedpoints at step S76, the CPU 11 proceeds to step S77 to discriminatewhether or not there is any file which is made unavailable on the HDD15. For example, if it is determined at step S65 that the points areinsufficient before the purchase processing, there is a file for whichthe information use permission flag is left in the use prohibitionstate. When there is an unavailable file on the HDD 15, the CPU 11proceeds to step S65 and determines the number of points required forthe file. If the number of points not less than the number of necessarypoints is stored in the point memory 45, the CPU 11 carries out pointsubtraction processing at step S66 and makes the file available at stepS67.

That is, the file which was inputted to the HDD 15 by the user in thepast but could not be used or reproduced because of the insufficiency ofpoints is made available as the accounting is carried out when the userpurchases the number of points.

If the points are insufficient again when the processing proceeds fromstep S77 to step S65, the file is still in the use prohibition state. Insuch case, the user needs to carry out the point purchase processingagain. Such case is, for example, the case where expensive informationis unavailable because of the insufficiency of points and the userpurchased only a small number of points.

Although not shown as the processing, in the case where many pieces ofinformation are recorded on the HDD 15 while the points areinsufficient, point subtraction of not more than the number of points PTand setting of the information use permission flag into the usepermission state are carried out with respect to files for which thepoints are sufficient, but files for which the points are insufficientare left in the use prohibition state.

As described in the foregoing first accounting processing, the user canalso purchase the chargeable information by setting the portable device50 into the down-load device 6 of FIG. 1 as described above. In thiscase, the down-load device 6 sets the file down-loaded onto the HDD 54in the portable device 50 into the use prohibition state. Similarly tothe first accounting processing, in order for the user to use the file,the user must connect the portable device 50 to therecording/reproducing device 10 to shift the file to therecording/reproducing device 10 and carry out the point processing, ormust carry out point processing by using the recording/reproducingdevice 10.

In the case where the file down-loaded in the portable device 50 isshifted to the HDD 15 of the recording/reproducing device 10 so as to beused, the recording/reproducing device 10 regards the file shift as theinput of chargeable information in the processing of FIG. 13 and carriesout the processing of step S63 and the subsequent steps as describedabove. Specifically, the recording/reproducing device 10 carries out theaccounting processing through the point processing and sets the fileshifted to the HDD 15 into the use permission state. After that, theuser can freely use the file.

On the other hand, the file down-loaded to the portable device 50 canalso be made available in the portable device 50 by carrying out onlythe point processing at the recording/reproducing device 10, withoutshifting the file to the HDD 15 of the recording/reproducing device 10.The processing operation therefor of the CPU 11 of therecording/reproducing device 10 will now be described with reference tothe flowchart of FIG. 14.

At step S81 of FIG. 14, the CPU 11 monitors the connection with theportable device 50. When the connection with the portable device 50 isdetected, the CPU 11 advances to step S82 and confirms the file storedon the HDD 54 of the portable device 50. At step S83, the CPU 11discriminates whether or not there is any file in the use prohibitionstate at that time. The case where there is a file in the useprohibition state is the case where there is a file of chargeableinformation which is down-loaded from the down-load device 6 by usingthe portable device 50 and for which the accounting processing has notbeen carried out yet.

Thus, at step S84, the CPU 11 confirms the number of points of the pointmemory 45 and discriminates whether or not the number of pointsequivalent to the fee for the file in the use prohibition state isleftas the number of points PT. If the number of points PT is left, the CPU11 at step S85 subtracts the number of points PT.

Subsequently, at step S86, the CPU 11 regards that the fee has been paidfor the file in the use prohibition state stored on the HDD 54 of theportable device 50, and sets the information use permission flag in theon-state, that is, the use permission state. Specifically, the CPU 11sets the information use permission flag in the on-state by directlyaccessing the HDD 54 or through the CPU 51. Thus, the user can use thechargeable information down-loaded to the portable device 50.

If the number of points is insufficient at step S34, the file in theportable device 50 is still in the use prohibition state and thereforethe user must carry out the point purchase.

As the processing of FIGS. 13 to 15 is thus carried out, the user onlyneeds to carry out the point purchase operation in advance for thepurchase of the chargeable information, and it is the operation only onthe screen as shown in FIG. 12. Therefore, the user will not experiencemuch trouble. Also, the user can purchase an arbitrary quantity ofpoints at an arbitrary time point.

Thus, though the accounting mode is similar to that of the prepaid card,a card reader and another equipments necessary for the accountingprocessing are not required. Also, the cost of circulation of cards isnot necessary and the user need not go out to a dealer for the purchase.Moreover, in this case, since the user can be aware of the quantity ofpoint purchase, that is, the accounting amount, the user himself/herselfcan be careful to avoid excessive use.

Similarly to the case of the first accounting processing, since theaccounting processing through the communication with thedistribution/accounting center 1 is not carried out every time theinformation is inputted, the user need not wait for the accountingprocessing and can immediately use the obtained information. In the casewhere the number of points is insufficient, the user only needs topurchase points after that. Therefore, it is possible to avoid such asituation that the user cannot use the obtained information because ofthe insufficiency of points.

In addition, the information of the down-load device 6 can be purchasedby using the portable device 50 and the accounting can be carried out bythe point processing using the recording/reproducing device 10.Therefore, diversification of the means for obtaining information can berealized and the accounting processing can be smoothly carried out.

Various modifications can be considered with respect to the secondaccounting processing, too.

For example, the operation method and the range of selection of thepurchase quantity by the user for point purchase are not limited to theabove-described specific example.

If the number of points is reduced to a certain value or less, a warningto urge the user to carry out the point purchase may be issued, or theCPU 11 may communicate with the distribution/accounting center 1 so asto automatically purchase a certain number of points.

In the above-described example, when the points become insufficient, theinputted file is left in the use prohibition state. However, the pointpurchase processing of a specified quantity may be automatically carriedout by displaying a screen to urge the user to carry out the pointpurchase when the points become insufficient, or by pre-setting by theuser. Alternatively, when the points are insufficient, it may beconsidered to delete the stored file or to confirm the number of pointsbefore the storage to the HDD 15 and prohibit the recording operation ifthe points are insufficient. Also, when the points are insufficient, theuser may delete the stored file and carry out control to increase thenumber of points equivalent to the deleted file. In the above-describedexample, the entire processing of the point memory 45 is executed by therecording/reproducing device 10. However, the point memory may beprovided in the portable device 50 so that the processing of the pointmemory is executed in the portable device 50 itself.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described examples andvarious modifications of the structure of the device and equipment andthe processing procedures may be considered.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

In the present invention, accounting point information is stored intothe first memory means of the terminal device and informationdistributed from the external source is stored into the second memory.When the distributed information is stored into the second memory, theaccounting point information stored in the first memory is updated andthe attributes of the distributed information are updated. Thus, theinconvenience of carrying out communication with thedistribution/accounting center 1 every time information is distributedto the recording/reproducing device 10 can be avoided.

1. An accounting system including an accounting center and a terminaldevice for communicating with the accounting center, comprising: a firstmemory built in the terminal device and configured to store accountingpoint information; a second memory included in the terminal device andconfigured to store information received from an external sourceexternal to the terminal device; a first controller included in theterminal device and configured to update the accounting pointinformation stored in the first memory and to update attributes of thereceived information when the received information is stored in thesecond memory, wherein when the received information is stored into thesecond memory the first controller reduces the accounting pointinformation stored in the first memory and updates the attributes of thereceived information from an unavailable state to an available state;and a second controller included in the terminal device and configuredto transmit the remaining accounting point information stored in thefirst memory to the accounting center and to set the remainingaccounting point information to an initial value based on an accountingprocessing status received by the terminal device from the accountingcenter corresponding to the remaining accounting point information,wherein the accounting center performs an accounting process based onthe remaining accounting point information transmitted from the terminaldevice.
 2. The accounting system as claimed in claim 1, wherein when theaccounting point information stored in the first memory is below aminimum for the first received information stored in the second memory,the controller performs control so that the attributes of the receivedinformation are held in the unavailable state.
 3. The accounting systemas claimed in claim 1, wherein when the accounting point informationstored in the first memory is below a minimum for the receivedinformation stored in the second memory, the second controller transmitsthe accounting point information stored in the first memory to theaccounting center and sets the accounting point information stored inthe first memory at the initial value based on the status of accountingprocessing corresponding to the accounting point information.
 4. Theaccounting system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a thirdcontroller for making a request for purchasing the accounting pointinformation to the accounting center and updating the accounting pointinformation stored in the first memory based on the accountingprocessing status corresponding to the accounting point informationreceived from the accounting center.